Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is a type of plasma deposition that is used to deposit thin films from a gas state (i.e., vapor) to a solid state on a substrate such as a wafer. PECVD systems convert a liquid precursor into a vapor precursor, which is delivered to a chamber. PECVD systems may include a vaporizer that vaporizes the liquid precursor in a controlled manner to generate the vapor precursor. Plasma chambers are used to deposit precision material layers using plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) process. Similarly, plasma is used in chambers optimized for removing materials from substrates.
These systems share the need to strike a plasma from gases introduced into the chamber, which is referred to herein as the plasma glow discharge that results from providing power to one or more electrodes of a chamber. A current challenge with any system that relies on igniting plasma between electrodes is control of the glow discharge. For example, once the glow discharge is produced between electrodes, it is not typically possible to influence positioning parts of all of the plasma bulk in different locations or regions within the chamber. To address these issues, current technologies rely on either multiple frequencies and/or multiple RF generators to control the glow discharge in PECVD, PEALD, or etch.
It is in this context that embodiments arise.